I am from sunflower
from the vast vineyards and towering evergreens,
and the Pacific Ocean.
I am from lavender,
fragrant, pale,
calming.
From learning about raising beef cattle,
From grandma,
and M.M.
From jasmine
and cottonwood.
I am from used baking pin
diligently rolling,
perogies,
silage ready to be harvested,
and summer BBQ’s on the patio.
Hello everyone!
I’m glad to be here. My name is Ashley Haines and I am a second year student hoping to pursue a major in International Relations and a minor in Sociology. I have moved around BC lots when I was younger, getting to experience life in the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, and the Okanagan over the years. I grew up on a beef and dairy farm for most of my life in South Surrey and Langley, but I’m now living with my best friends in East Van. I really enjoy listening to all types of music (seriously, one minute I’ll be listening to country, the next BTS, the next rap!), watching action movies, and keeping up to date with all the current events going on in the world. In my free time, I love volunteering, going on weekend camping trips with my friends, and petting my roommates cat haha.
This is my first semester back after taking a year and a half off of school, so I am a bit nervous to get things rolling but nonetheless, I am super excited to jump in and get started on the new school year! I am taking LAST300 because after a Rotary trip to Guatemala and getting to spend lots of time with the Q’anjob’al (Mayan) peoples in Cementario Jolomtaj, Huehuetenango last year, I have since become very interested in learning more about the indigenous peoples of Latin America. I am particularly excited to learn about the Maya indigenous group, and I am eager to learn about other groups and their food practices because I’d love to learn more about the agricultural practices they take on in their food practices.
I look forward to learning with all of you!
Tamara Mitchell
September 14, 2020 — 10:27 am
I appreciate the image of the used baking pin. Nourishing food rolled out across generations… Lovely!
I look forward to hearing more about your experience in Guatemala. Welcome to LAST303, Ashley!
ashley haines
September 14, 2020 — 3:12 pm
Thank you so much, Tamara! I am super excited for this class:) Thank you for the warm welcome!
Geneviève Lalonde
September 17, 2020 — 2:54 am
Hey Ashley! Your post stood out to me because I found a couple similarities between us: I was also raised on a beef farm (although in Ontario), and was always doing house calls with my dad on dairy farms. My favourite thing was getting to chase the barn cats around 🙂 I took a year off before uni too, and it was definitely scary coming back to school after being out of it for so long. You’re lucky to be surrounded with a good support system though, I’m sure it’ll be smooth! Your Rotary trip sounds like it was so interesting, I hope I get to hear more about it.
What kind of volunteering are you doing? I have been thinking of starting volunteering once I get back to Vancouver, as I have more free time this year than I have had other years, but I have no idea what I want to volunteer for yet.
I’m looking forward to getting to know you better 🙂
ashley haines
September 21, 2020 — 10:02 pm
Hi Genevieve! It is so cool to see how many similarities we have! I also lived on a dairy farm for a little bit, similar to how you did house calls with your dad:) We had so many barn cats at that farm haha. Also, wow, you took time off school too!! I think as the time goes on I am feeling more and more comfy with being back 🙂 I do a lot of volunteering in Langley, especially with youth engagement/leadership stuff! I still do rotary stuff every once in a while too–I could totally help u with some good volunteer resources if you’d like! I hope to get to know you better too! It sure sounds like we have so many similarities in our life experiences and I would love to chat with you more! My ig is aashley.hhaines if you’d like to connect there!:)